Quilts and Pillows for Late Summer Color

Hi Friends, Hope you're having a great week, this last week of July. Wow, it's been a long summer for me and even though I enjoy these long days of warm weather, it's not like it was when the kids were young and at home. We went to the pool most days, they had friends over, we grilled dinner outside, and thoroughly rang out every drop of fun we could. Even a few years ago my hubby and I were camping in the RV and planning fun with family...

This has been a summer of rehabbing after back surgery, and getting started on my long awaited hope of recovery from autoimmune illness which is requiring weekly injected infusions. It sounds like I'm complaining and I don't want to be doing that. I'm so grateful for my husband and for a good prognosis from my doctors, but I have to admit it hasn't been the summer of my dreams. (LOL!)

ANYWAY, I'm taking it one day at a time and thinking now about getting stronger and doing a few things around here that signal Fall. One way that always brings joy to me is changing up the decor, especially in the Garden Room for the upcoming seasons. While summer is full of color (a lot of red), patriotic designs, and bright florals, late summer ushers in some of the colors of harvest which are golds, darker greens, deep reds, and even a bit of black and brown.

I love adding the black in as an accent color with the gold and harvest colors. The black embroidered pillow with the floral basket on the left is really very old and fragile. The needlepoint pillow on the right is probably from the 90's and I found it in a flea market years ago. I made the ticking pillows back about 10 years ago when I started going nuts over anything ticking.

I have a couple of quilts that really say "August" to me and they are the two in the Garden Room sitting area right now that are deep golds. One is a small floral "French matelassé" and the other is a "new" small throw in a windmill design that's gold and white, which is on the wicker chair. Pillows and quilts usually call out and define the color scheme in here along with the fun indigo and black ticking and sunflower designs and floral arrangements.

Not long ago I found a few pillow covers from Amazon that featured sunflowers at great prices. One is on the chair above and another on the wicker settee which is a large sunflower. I have a few others sprinkled around on the church pew, farm table chairs, and in the Hearth Room. I really love this time of year when sunflowers are at their peak. I swear each year that I'll grow my own the next year, but it has seemed that there were a few things keeping me from getting out earlier in the spring season.

I love this old vintage summertime produce crate here on the little bench/coffee table. It's full of bright summer color with apples and a label with a font in blues, greens, reds and golds. I really like having a tray, crate or basket... something that can corral items that are decorative and like-minded.

A few pieces from my grandmother's apple "stove set" are here in the crate, along with a vintage watering can, and a partial set of pastel fruit motif dessert plates. Gold floral cloth napkins give a backdrop for the separate items.

A heavy glass and metal lantern type cloche covers an olive bucket candle along with a flower frog and old seed packet, then one of my little chalkware sheep.

This week I put together the late summer Holiday Cupboard with my French Faience and summer themed majolica which I'm anxious to share with you next week. It's so much fun seeing what kind of combination of dishware and theme I can cobble together in the cupboard! It's a poor man's collection of newish and old beat up majolica, but it's still colorful and fun for this time of year.

I know many of you with long winters ahead aren't in any rush to see an early Fall. But we generally start getting warm in early May and the heat and humidity is pervasive until mid October. So I guess I'm just a person that is ready for the cooler temps come September.

Thanks so much for coming by to visit.

You all have made the time go quicker and blogging

has helped me stay focused and busy.

I apologize for not always returning comments.

You guys bless me and I love hearing what you all have to say.

Here's one of my favorite posts...

Did you catch my last post, Here?

Hope you'll come back Monday evening...

joining in here:

The House on Silverado Love Your Creativity at Life and Linda,

Hearth and Soul at April Harris

All About Home at Common Ground and Follow the Yellow Brick Home
Inspire Me Monday at My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia
Met Monday at Between Naps on the Porch

Celebrate Your Story at The Zucchini Sisters,

Inspire Me Tuesday at A Stroll Thru Life

Creative Crafts Linky Party at Creatively Beth

Party in Your PJ's at Apple Street Cottage

Keep in Touch at Let's Add Sprinkles

Wonderful Wednesday at LeCultivateur

Turnabout Tuesday at My Wee Abode,

Share Your Style at French Ethereal

Happiness is Homemade at LEO Wife
Centerpiece Wednesday at Karin's Kottage

Vintage Charm at Our Hopeful Home,

Thursday Favorite Things at Follow the Yellow Brick Home,

Friday with Friends at My Hubbard Home